Today, the Estonia-Russia Joint Commission on the Protection and Sustainable Use of Transboundary Water Bodies concluded its meeting, having discussed the environmental status of transboundary water bodies and reached an agreement on developing a joint assessment based on monitoring results. “Cooperation with the neighbouring country is essential, because we have over 200 kilometres of shared border on water and everything that happens in Narva River, Lake Peipsi and its basin will have an impact on water quality in the Baltic Sea, especially in the Gulf of Finland. Our cooperation with the Russian side has been good for many years and it will continue,” said Andres Talijärv, Secretary General of the Ministry of the Environment, co-chairman of the Joint Commission. During the meeting, the parties noted that the water situation of Narva River basin remains stable and pollutant content seems to be decreasing. The pressure on water bodies from point source pollution is under control but pressure from diffuse pollution sources still requires addressing. “For monitoring data to be as informative as possible for both parties and in the interests of unambiguous interpretation, it seemed reasonable to establish harmonised data recording requirements, and we reached an agreement on this. We will also continue with joint monitoring inspections,” Talijärv commented. The Estonia-Russia Joint Commission was established in 1997 between the Republic of Estonia and the Russian Federation to ensure protection and sustainable use of transboundary water bodies. The Joint Commission develops transboundary cooperation between the governments of the two countries, organises sharing of environmental monitoring data and harmonisation of measurement methods between the parties, expands cooperation opportunities for the parties’ research and public organisations, and supports public debate on problems associated with transboundary water bodies.